Florida Everglades fear rise of the people-eating super-snakes

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Dark Knight

Dark Knight

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An invasion of giant snakes has turned Florida into a potential spawning ground for hybrid super-serpents capable of devouring humans.


The discovery of African rock pythons close to the Everglades wetlands is a worrying development for wildlife officers already troubled by the rising population of Burmese pythons, bred from pets dumped illegally in the wild.


Kenneth Krysko, a herpetologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History, speculates that should the two species mate, they could create genetically superior offspring more aggressive, powerful and resilient than their parents — possibly with the ability to strike down human prey.


Rock pythons are “so mean, they come out of the egg striking . . . this is one vicious animal”, he told National Geographic News. “The arrival of the Burmese python was the biggest, most devastating problem that Florida could ever have imagined.

Now we have a worse one.”


More at link:



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6878440.ece
 
I don't think I'll be vacationing in Florida any time soon!

I am phobic about snakes. And in August, when we were living at my in-laws,' their rat terrier tangled with a water moccasin. She was struck twice, but thankfully lived. However, she looked (and still does to a lesser degree) like something from Pet Cemetery. She lost all the skin and underlying tissue where the snake bit her twice. The tissue and skin are growing back, but I don't think she'll have fur on one side of her face or neck. And stink! I have never smelled anything that bad. Needless to say, the snake was killed as were its two buddies that were also in the yard! (Note to self, don't ever make husband mad when he has a shovel in his hand! LOL)
 
I just had to tuck my feet up under me, as I sit in my chair. LoL Snakes freak me out, and now there are people-eater snakes invading the country. Egadssss... :)
 
Tezi, I'm glad the dog survived, the poor thing. Tell your husband, he is my hero!
 
Patthebunny said:
Tezi, I'm glad the dog survived, the poor thing. Tell your husband, he is my hero!
Click to expand...

I am glad she made it also. The vet were my MIL took her said she was the 20th dog that had been bit last summer that had been brought into the vet. Right after she was bit, another rat terrier was bit by another water moccasin, but that dog died, I guess it was the area in which the dog was injured. The anti-venom really worked for my MIL's dog!

I will tell my husband....LOL
 
I would think not many little dogs would survive a snake bite like that.
 
Patthebunny said:
I would think not many little dogs would survive a snake bite like that.
Click to expand...

My MIL took her to the vet immediately, so I think that helped her. She was bitten on the head and in the neck. The other rat terrier that was attacked after she was, was bit in the chest. Her owner took her immediately to the vet, but even after getting the anti-venom, she died that night. I think where the bite is has something to do with the survival rate.

My MIL brought her home after she had the anti-venom. But, she swelled up so bad over the next two days, that she had to go back to the vet. She ended up staying for three days there because she couldn't eat, so the vet had to give her IV fluids along with steroids. After the swelling went down, that is when the skin and tissue started to rot off of her face and neck. She's still on anti-biotics and the vet says she will have to stay on them until all of the skin is healed over. That could be as much as three more months.

On the lighter side, she already has her Halloween costume! LOL:dance:

Sorry for hijacking the thread.......
 
I won't be going to FL soon either...it was bad enough when I found out about the pythons -- now *this*!!

I was supposed to go to Australia on a business trip a few years ago, but after one of my co-workers started telling me about the snakes he saw when he was there, which I'd already seen on a documentary (snakes on the shelves in stores, ginormous snakes in swimming pools, etc) -- I 'sacrificed' my rotation to Oz & let one of the other guys go.

No thanks. No snakes for me. <shudders>
 
Are any of these snakes at Disneyworld? If they are, maybe I didn't really want to know that!
 
Brwnigirl said:
Are any of these snakes at Disneyworld? If they are, maybe I didn't really want to know that!
Click to expand...

LOL! No! Only in the everglades, but remember, they haven't actually FOUND any of these hybrids, it's only a theory. :crazy:
 
Yet another problem for Florida. My goodness, this state has serious issues.....crime wise, now animal wise.

I would seriously have a stroke if I ever visited Florida and came across "wildlife".

Scary...........
 
I'm kind of a snake "fan".

tezi said:
<snip> rat terrier tangled with a water moccasin. She was struck twice, but thankfully lived.
Click to expand...

Very lucky, I've always believed water moccasin's are deadlier than this.


Dark Knight said:
LOL! No! Only in the everglades, but remember, they haven't actually FOUND any of these hybrids, it's only a theory. :crazy:
Click to expand...

My son has a Royal Python as a pet (commonly called in pet stores a "ball python"). "Slinky", the python, is one of the nicest, sweetest pets I've seen. Slinky is slow, never bites, great with kids and loves attention.

Before you all run out and buy a snake, I have to say many (most) other "pet" snakes are not good pets. Many snakes have an "attitude" and quickness that do not equate into making a good pet.

If you are ever at a pet store, go hold a "ball python". You'll be surprised.

OK here's the part you've been waiting for. Python's are "big body" snakes. Simply meaning they are short and fat, but can swallow larger than other snakes. Slinky, can swallow 6 times his neck / head size. How you ask? Simple. A python's upper and lower jaw can "disconnect" to swallow. Further, the lower jaw is TWO pieces that move independently to perform the "swallow".

Slinky is small - a little over three feet (he is full grown).

But I can easily see a larger python (hybrids?) being able to swallow a human. A python always swallows head first and the widest part of a human, the shoulders, would be no problem. Not so far fetched a theory, IMO, at all.

Sorry.
 
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaK4cBu4P6abh4e2_LN0cv_bcjowD9BAJ7D00

"Scientists are already studying where Burmese pythons can survive in the U.S. Seven are being studied in a natural enclosure in South Carolina to see if the tropical natives can live through colder winters."

http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/10/14/giant-snakes-warming-to-us-climes.html

"But not being finicky diners, they can probably survive almost anywhere within their climatic limits, Rodda and Reed say. Last year, they mapped suitable regions, based on matching current local climates within the United States against conditions in the snakes&#8217; home ranges (see map below). If a climate warming continues, they project that by 2100 these snakes&#8212;especially thecold-tolerant Burmese python&#8212;may be established in parts of Washington state, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York."

from what scientists say with climate change, the snakes could be heading northward! yikes!
 
sniperacer said:
I'm kind of a snake "fan".



Very lucky, I've always believed water moccasin's are deadlier than this.




My son has a Royal Python as a pet (commonly called in pet stores a "ball python"). "Slinky", the python, is one of the nicest, sweetest pets I've seen. Slinky is slow, never bites, great with kids and loves attention.

Before you all run out and buy a snake, I have to say many (most) other "pet" snakes are not good pets. Many snakes have an "attitude" and quickness that do not equate into making a good pet.

If you are ever at a pet store, go hold a "ball python". You'll be surprised.

OK here's the part you've been waiting for. Python's are "big body" snakes. Simply meaning they are short and fat, but can swallow larger than other snakes. Slinky, can swallow 6 times his neck / head size. How you ask? Simple. A python's upper and lower jaw can "disconnect" to swallow. Further, the lower jaw is TWO pieces that move independently to perform the "swallow".

Slinky is small - a little over three feet (he is full grown).

But I can easily see a larger python (hybrids?) being able to swallow a human. A python always swallows head first and the widest part of a human, the shoulders, would be no problem. Not so far fetched a theory, IMO, at all.

Sorry.
Click to expand...

Yes, ball pythons are very docile and are the ones most popular as pets. It's the African Rock Python that is mean and extremely aggressive, so if they mated with reticulated pythons, among the largest snakes in the world, there'd theoretically be offspring that was both huge and very aggressive towards humans.

Of course, even the species popular as pets have been known to attack their owners, snakes are still wild animals.

They say even the largest snakes have a tough time swallowing an adult human, although not unheard of. Children are more likely to be swallowed. Obviously killing an adult human is not a problem for these snakes, however.
 
Yet another thing for me to be worried about! I live next to a field at the edge of the Everglades and am always worried about being bitten by a poisonous snake when working around the house. Plus, all the crazy people in Florida as you can see in the Crimes in the News and the insane driving.
 
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